Sinbad Gully Kiwi “thriving” in Milford Sound sanctuary

DOC Biodiversity
Ranger Pete McMurtrie with one of the two breeding Kiwis
introduced to Sinbad Gully

Media
release from Southern Discoveries1
November 2011

Sinbad Gully Kiwi
“thriving” in Milford Sound sanctuary

A pair
of breeding Kiwi introduced eight months ago to a remote
valley overlooking Milford Sound are plump, happy and
thriving, thanks to a joint project to establish a sanctuary
for native species alongside New Zealand’s most
photographed mountain.

Sinbad Gully, at the base of the
world-renowned Mitre Peak, has been the focus of attention
for the past two years in a joint project between Southern
Discoveries, the Department of Conservation (DOC) and the
Fiordland Conservation Trust.

Each year Southern
Discoveries has made a substantial annual donation to
establish a pest control programme to enable threatened
birds, lizards and invertebrate species to increase in
number in this beautiful area of New Zealand.

Rats,
stoats, mice and possums had made the area their home before
Southern Discoveries’ sponsorship enabled DOC and the
Trust to establish the exciting project.

The two Kiwi,
released into a suitable valley in Sinbad Gully in early
February this year, are a living embodiment of the success
of the project, according to DOC.

Te Anau DOC
Biodiversity Ranger Hannah Edmonds said the birds were “a
picture of health” and looking very happy in their new
home.

She said the nocturnal pair were doing so well, and
numbers of pests caught in traps had decreased so
significantly over the past two years, that DOC was happy to
free them from their transmitters and leave them to ‘go
about their business’.

“We’ve been working with
Southern Discoveries and monitoring them since their
release, and now it’s time for us to let them do their own
thing,” she said.

“We’ll check on their welfare at
every opportunity but we don’t like them transmitting for
too long as it’s best not to interfere.”

Ms Edmonds
said the fact that the Kiwi were found together on the
latest visit was a great sign for potential
breeding.

“It’s a bit too early for brood patches to
be around, the patch of featherless skin that’s visible on
the underside of birds during the nesting season, but we did
find them in the same roost site so it’s safe to assume
they’re a breeding pair,” she said.

“We’ve not
caught any stoats and the low numbers of pests caught
overall is a good sign,” said Ms Edmonds.

“Southern
Discoveries has been a huge support since committing to this
project and members of their staff are always keen to come
in and help place, set and check traps. It’s just
fantastic. We really value their community vision and
support with regards to conservation.”

Sinbad Valley to the left of iconic Mitre
Peak in New Zealand’s Milford
Sound

Southern Discoveries’ General
Manager John Robson said the company was “absolutely
thrilled” with the success of the conservation project to
date.

“It’s hugely rewarding for us to have worked
alongside DOC and the Trust and reduced the pest population
to such a degree, even though it’s still early days, that
two Kiwi are thriving in the valley and we can look forward
to seeing them produce chicks,” he said.

Ms Edmonds
said DOC would continue to go into Sinbad Gully once a month
to check and re-set traps and monitor possum densities, and
at this stage had no plans to release any more Kiwi into the
area.

“If these Kiwi do breed, we’d let them do their
own thing and hope we’ve done enough to protect the young
chicks with the predator-trapping we have in place and the
work we’ve all done over the past two years,” she
said.

“We couldn’t have done it without excellent
support from Southern Discoveries, not only with Kiwi but
with the rare and new species of gecko and skink discovered
there.”

Sinbad Gully was home in the 1970’s to the
last known kakapo living on the mainland.

More
about Sinbad Gully

The Sinbad Gully is located
close to the head of Milford Sound within Fiordland National
Park and the Te Wāhipounamu - South West New Zealand World
Heritage Area.

In 1974 Sinbad Gully was set apart as a
‘Special Area’ because of the presence of kakapo and the
largely unmodified state of its vegetation. This status was
lifted in 1992. Sinbad Gully is now classified as part of
the ‘Eastern Remote Zone’ under the Fiordland National
Park Management Plan (2007).

The Sinbad Gully has a
natural barrier of steep terrain, combined with a cold, wet
climate which has limited the invasion of mammalian
predators. These attributes have contributed to making it a
safer refuge for rare lizard species such as the Sinbad and
Mahogany skinks and the Cascade gecko. All three were only
recently discovered in the Sinbad Gully and the Sinbad skink
is known only to the Sinbad Gully.

Other species present
include rock wren, kea, whio, kiwi, weka, large weta and
other large colourful invertebrates. The valley was also
one of the last refuges of kakapo in Fiordland.

Animal
pests have had a serious impact on native wildlife through
direct predation and competition for food. The valley walls
surrounding the Sinbad Gully form a natural barrier limiting
the re-invasion of introduced predators.

More
about Southern Discoveries

Southern Discoveries
is the oldest and most well-established operator in Milford
Sound, taking in unique wildlife, tumbling waterfalls and
the towering beauty and majesty of Mitre Peak on cruises run
on a fleet of modern, comfortable boats.

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